I’m trying to confirm whether this is true but based on some Google searches I assume it is.
The Business Trial Group of Morgan & Morgan, P.A. filed a class action lawsuit today against Forex Capital Markets, LLC (FXCM) (NYSE:FXCM) alleging fraud and racketeering by the nation’s largest Forex dealer.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan Division), alleges that FXCM has bilked thousands of customers out of hundreds of millions of dollars using deceptive and unfair trade practices, including falsely portraying its Forex trading platform as a fair, transparent and true foreign currency exchange, when instead it is a “rigged game” designed to systematically separate customers from their money.
The Plaintiff, William H. Sanders, of Muscogee, Oklahoma, brought the action on behalf of himself and all other similarly situated FXCM customers, accusing FXCM of fraud by misrepresenting itself as a trading platform that is free from dealer intervention or manipulation. Instead, Sanders alleges, FXCM uses a number of devices and tricks, including software applications, designed specifically to interfere with customers’ trades.
The Complaint further alleges that FXCM engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity by collaborating with its software developers and programmers to develop a “diabolical” software application that provides FXCM with a myriad of tools and system commands with which to interfere with customers’ trades, including routing trades to “slow” servers and sending false “error” messages when customers attempt to close out profitable trades.
Finally, Sanders alleges in the Complaint that FXCM lured thousands of customers to its trading platform by promoting a “demo account” which was touted as providing customers with a true market trading experience. Instead, he claims, once “live” trading commences, FXCM deploys specially designed software to manipulate customers’ trades.
Lead Trial Counsel Tucker H. Byrd, of the Morgan & Morgan Business Trial Group of Orlando, Florida, stated, “We are proud to be representing Mr. Sanders in this action, which we believe will be an important step in bolstering accountability in an industry that has been largely unregulated since inception. We believe, as the Complaint alleges, that Forex Capital Markets, LLC has taken advantage of the trust placed in it by its customers, causing substantial financial harm to this group of people, and we are committed to working to recover those losses.”
FXCM is the nation’s largest Forex Dealer Merchant. The company recently went public and trades on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Business Trial Group teamed up with the renowned Morgan & Morgan Class Action Group headed by attorneys Scott Weinstein and Andrew Meyer in filing this lawsuit. Attorneys James Byrd, Jr., J. Carlos Real and Damien Prosser of the Business Trial Group and Rachel Soffin and Tamra Givens of the Class Action Group round out the Morgan Forex team.
Update 1: FXCM’s stock is down 7% since Thursday.
Update 2: FXCM Intends to Vigorously Defend Lawsuit
NEW YORK, NY, February 10, 2011 – FXCM Inc. (NYSE: FXCM) today announced that a purported class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by a single former customer against Forex Capital Markets, LLC alleging claims under Federal and New York State law with respect to trading through the company’s platforms. FXCM comments, “While it is FXCM’s policy not to comment on pending litigation, FXCM intends to vigorously defend itself against the allegations in the action.
Shocking on all accounts. Not really.